I called the va state police firearms transactions division and was told that they would not answer any questions about private sales. No help at all. I tried to explain that I needed to know if I had to do a ffl transfer.

The only way you can be traced back to you is if the person you sell it to try's to swap it to their name then they might be a issue... But I would at least make a bill of sale just in case at least for your records. My grandfather was a gun smith here in Alabama and he would sell to individuals from other states and he never ha issues as long as it was a clean gun meaning never involved in a crime

Can you imagine what a beaurocratic nightmare it would be for the feds to keep up with all shotguns? Gun shows, personal sales, pawn shops, stolen guns, guns taken apart and put back together again in another configuration. It would be impossible to keep up with.

CaptainWv wrote:Id ask for some ID and do a bill of sale. Write down the license number on the bill of sale.. when in doubt CYA

That's a good rule of thumb......but it won't prevent you from selling to an ATF agent if the transaction takes place in a state that requires the sale to go through an FFL holder. Selling ONLY to someone you KNOW is the best idea....and that isn't foolproof.

Contact a FFL holder in your home state. They will be able to answer your question and tell you what is legal. When I ship a gun out of state to a FFL holder, I get a copy of their FFL for my own records. They always get a zerox copy of my driver's license.